J-SAC issues usually contain between 8 and 25 papers, with an average of about 18 papers plus a Guest Editorial per issue. It is most important that we publish only original (not previously published in a technical journal) contributions that have high-quality technical content and are well-written. Quality and originality can only be insured through a well-managed review process. The principal criterion for selecting a paper for publication in a special issue should be the quality of the paper. A small issue containing excellent papers is preferable to a large issue padded with mediocre papers. Guest editors who expect to accept more than 25 papers for their special issue must work with the mentor for their issue to determine whether such a large issue is warranted.

It is very important that the size of the J-SAC issue be estimated carefully since the IEEE Communications Society has an annual page count budget for all publications, including J-SAC. If you believe your special issue will exceed 200 pages (approximately 20 papers), please email the Executive Editor.

Authors are required to submit their manuscripts in both single-column format and in single-spaced double-column IEEE format. In single-column format, the manuscript must not exceed 30 double-spaced pages in 12-point font, with approximately 26 lines per page and 6.5-inch line length, inclusive of figures and tables. To estimate page count based on the single-column formatting, the following formula used by IEEE can be followed:

3 manuscript pages = 1 typeset page

6 figures/tables = 1 typeset page

The manuscript in double-column IEEE format provides an independent estimate of the number of pages that the paper would require when typeset in final form.

Overlength Page Charges:

All submissions that are accepted for publication are subject to mandatory over-length page charges of $220.00 for each journal page exceeding a specified limit. For all JSAC special issues, the current limit is 8 printed pages; over-length page charges start to accrue with the ninth page.

Double-column version of manuscript. *You are required to also submit a roughly formatted version of the manuscript in single-spaced, double-column (2-column), IEEE format (10-point font size), using the IEEE style files: http:/www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/IEEEtran/. (Though this application allows you to extend equations beyond the column width in the submitted version of the article, JSAC style does not permit this in the published version. Publications staff will relocate any equations that extend into the margin to the top of the following page and will change your text to accommodate the move. You may prefer to do this yourself so the text will more adequately reflect your intentions and you will be able to determine more accurately the length of your paper.) This version will serve as a confirmation of the approximate publication length of the manuscript at submission, and gives an additional confirmation of your understanding that any manuscript which exceeds 8 journal pages will have mandatory overlength charges of $220 per page applied.

Please note that sometimes Guest Editors will impose a maximum allowable page length to accepted papers for their issue. Maximum allowable page length IS NOT the same as overlength page charges. Authors are still responsible for paying the overlength page charge of $220 per page for any manuscript which exceeds 8 journal pages, even if the maximum allowable page length for their issue is 9 or more journal pages.

For example, if the editors impose a limit of 11 pages per paper for the issue, then an author who turns in a paper of 10 pages will still have to pay the overlength charges for 2 pages (at $220 per page), but the overall length will be fine. An author who turns in a paper of 12 pages will be told to shorten it by 1 page to meet the limit; once it is shortened to 11 pages, it will still be subject to overlength charges for 3 pages (at $220 per page). Note that the overlength limit is always 8 for all JSAC issues; that is, page charges will always be incurred if the paper is longer than 8 pages. The maximum allowable page length, however, is not the same for all JSAC issues. It depends both on how many papers are accepted for that issue, and how many total pages have been used up by earlier JSAC issues in that year. For example, if an issue has only 10 papers accepted (a very small number) then there might be NO maximum imposed. An author could turn in a final paper of 20 pages, and that would be OK (however, overlength page charges would still be incurred for all pages beyond 8). If however an issue has 25 papers accepted, then a page limit of 10 pages per paper might be imposed (any paper which came in at 9 or 10 pages would still incur overlength page charges). At the time of initial submission, it is not yet known whether or not a maximum allowable page limit will be imposed (since we don't yet know how many papers will be accepted), but the limit for avoiding page charges is known (it equals 8).